Paul Campos wrote:I'd appreciate it if people would respond to at least the first of these questions:

(1) In roughly what percentage of your classes are laptops banned?only 1 seminar has banned them for me so far. I'm a 2L

(2) What law school do you attend? (Range is fine if you don't want to name the exact school).big ten T1 flagship

(3) Do the professors who ban laptops tend to share any characteristics? (age, gender, teaching style, anything else).its an old lady in a small class who wants everyone to volunteer a lot and pay attentionThanks in advance.

As much as my soul cries out that it's ludicrous for boomers to tell me when I'm allowed to use technology, in this context, they're right. If you're writing more than a page of handwritten notes per class, you're doing it wrong.We don't need laptops in order to get the full educational value out of a class. And except for the extremely disciplined among us, you are guaranteed to pay less attention when you have access to the internet during class.

Re bolded: What?Re underlined: That seems like a personal decision.

Edit: what year are you in school?

I'm a 3L.

Re bolded: Let me qualify that statement--if you're taking notes only for the exam, and you don't otherwise care about the subject matter, you don't need more than a page of handwritten notes.

Re underlined: The 'personal decision' is "can I handle the distractions that inevitably accompany being connected to the internet?" I'd be interested to hear an argument for why having internet access improves your learning experience.

Re bolded: I disagree, especially if we are talking about a take home exam. Re underlined: There are plenty. Professor is talking about issue in X area. Google that issue for more depth or clarification. Forgot what that case the class is that the class is about to discuss? Quickly Google it (I think that even the most disciplined law student will have this happened to them from time to time). Couldn't hear what your professor said? Gchat your friend requesting that information. There are a million more reasons why the internet can be a useful learning tool.

And, moreover, you're wrong on how you are framing the personal decision. Your initial post concerned having laptops, not just internet ("We don't need laptops in order to get the full educational value out of a class."). Laptops are also valuable even without the internet. A kindle version of a casebook is much easier and more convenient, you can search the text, etc. You might also keep notes, etc. on your laptop and being able to quickly reference those could benefit class discussion.

Those are definitely valid uses for the internet during class. I just think they're outweighed by the potential for distraction. But I'm the guy who jumps on TLS when the gunner starts droning on, so maybe I'm not the best test case.

Hadn't thought about a digital copy of the textbook. That's interesting. But even if we distinguish laptops from the internet, I don't think people do themselves any favors by recording a transcript of everything said in class. You can't do that with a pen and paper--you have to focus on what's really important.

There are pros and cons. For me personally, the cons of laptop access outweigh the pros. But I agree that students should get to make the choice for themselves.

TatteredDignity wrote:Those are definitely valid uses for the internet during class. I just think they're outweighed by the potential for distraction. But I'm the guy who jumps on TLS when the gunner starts droning on, so maybe I'm not the best test case.

Hadn't thought about a digital copy of the textbook. That's interesting. But even if we distinguish laptops from the internet, I don't think people do themselves any favors by recording a transcript of everything said in class. You can't do that with a pen and paper--you have to focus on what's really important.

There are pros and cons. For me personally, the cons of laptop access outweigh the pros. But I agree that students should get to make the choice for themselves.

Looks like I changed someone's opinion on the internet. My work here is done.

For what possible reason? Is it because students might do non-class-related activities on the laptop (e.g. Facebook) and profs don't want them or surrounding students to be distracted?

Because that seems like quite a childish restriction. I haven't had laptops or internet banned in any of my undergrad classes. I suppose I can sympathize with an internet ban, but a laptop ban would GREATLY reduce my ability to take effective notes.

1. In 1L, ~10%. This particular semester, 75%.2. Berkeley3. Not really. They all claim it's to encourage participation/active learning, some more convincingly than others. For instance, one of these professors never ever cold calls, so there it seems more believable because he really does rely entirely on voluntary participation.

(1) ~5% (Laptop bans are included in course descriptions. My torts prof had a laptop ban, but post-1L, if I see a ban noted, I automatically avoid the class. I think there are only 2 or 3 profs who ban laptops, and they do it in all of their classes.)

(2) Brooklyn

(3) It appears that all the laptop-banning profs at my school are male. Also, several profs - also all male - state that they reserve the right to ban laptops if they become a distraction or people are playing around online. Female profs seem not to care too much (or at least not mention any policy beyond 'you're adults; act like it'), though one female prof expressly banned the use of any kind of chat software because she'd had problems with people IMing answers to those unprepared for a cold call.

Last edited by michaelbluth on Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

1.) 5%? They're banned in my criminal law class. I've heard of one other professor who bans laptops.

2.) Northwestern

3.) Both are female and transferred in from UT. Both are fairly paternalistic - "we ban laptops because you can't be trusted to make the right choices about what to pay attention to. but LOL we are preparing you for the real world where you absolutely won't have the internet at your fingertips during work."